The present invention relates to preparing iced confectionery articles, in particular, iced lollipops, and to molds and equipment for mold transport and to means for freezing compositions for preparing the ice confectionery articles.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,359,858 and 5,394,707 disclose processes and apparatus for molding simple or composite iced lollipops comprising chocolate shells, wherein molds are precooled to a very low temperature, a liquid composition to be iced is introduced into the molds which are conveyed through a refrigerating atmosphere until a crust is formed on the surface, a stick is inserted into the still soft center, and the iced lollipops then are removed from the molds. All the operations of precooling the molds, filling, inserting the stick and freezing until removal from the molds take place in a very cold environment, in which the ice cooling rate is controlled, so that the lollipops can easily be removed from the molds, without the molds being heated.